Undergraduate Aerospace Engineer Review

In my 3 roles, I contributed to the production and output of reports for different work packages and programmes. I used MATLAB to edit scripts to produce different outputs. I worked with external suppliers and academia to improve the knowledge and capabilities of the systems available in aerospace engineering. I was given the chance to work at 3 different teams- all at different stages of the life cycle.

My confidence has improved vastly through regular presentations to the teams and external teams I was a part of. This meant I had to publicly speak (whether in person or over a skype call) which became more natural and easier to do, the more I did it. I developed my MATLAB coding skills which will help me in my remaining time at University. My time management skills have greatly improved due to have multiple tasks on the go at once.

In my time at Flight Test, I completed Quick Look Reports on my own and would send them to my manager to review and these would be produced and signed as official BAE documents. In my Systems engineering role, I was solely in charge of external supplier and academia relations and organising meetings between ourselves and them. In aerodynamics, I completed plot analysis and helped with report writing for different work packages.

There is an early careers team that are available to help you whenever you need it. They keep constant communication with you and remind you that if you need support it is available. During my time the undergraduate supervisor retired and there was a few months between when they left and the next one was appointed so during that time there was limited support but once the replacement came in, the support has returned. Your line manager is always there to help you as well.

There is a good atmosphere at BAE Systems. For the younger engineers, there is a graduate council that organise socials and make sure that everybody feels supported and gives everyone the opportunity to meet new people. There are canteens and coffee shops on site so you can go for coffee/snack breaks with your team where you can get to know them better. Everyone I have interacted with at BAE has been kind and enjoy what they do (even though it can be stressful at times!)

I really enjoyed the placement and I plan to return to the business next summer on the summer internship 2024. I would also like to return to BAE and complete a grad role here. This has been a great company to work for and I want to work for them in the future. I like the work, the people and the location.

Yes

The advice I would give to anyone looking to work at BAE Systems would be to research the company thoroughly before the interviews and test stages and get a feel for who the company are. If you get to the interview stages, be yourself and just talk to the interviewers normally, obviously still professionally, but talk to them as human beings as they will have interviewed a lot of people already. If possible have a passion for aerospace engineering.